Tanning apparatus



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. UAI LLET.

I TANNING APPARATUS. No. 512,861. A Patented Jan. 16, 1894.

I 1522822 55071 JZZJZZI? $22161 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

' J. CAILL ET. TANNING APPARATUS.

Patented'Jan. 16

(No Model.)

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-Ares JUSTIN CAILLET, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

TANNING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 512,861, dated January16, 1894.

I Application filed April 27, 1893. Serial No.4'72,00 l. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, J USTIN CAILLET, a citizen of the Republic ofFrance, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, have invented a new and useful 1m,- provement in TanningApparatus,'of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide novel means whereby theoperation of tanning skins shall be greatly facilitated and expeditedover the manner of procedure in tanning as hitherto practiced.

, My improved apparatus is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 is a diagrammatioplan view showing the horizontal seriesof troughs and the railway-track system on which to run theskin-carrying cars. Fig. 2 is a broken View in side elevation of one ofthe cars. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view of the car taken at the line 3on Fig. 1 and viewed in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 4: is adiagrammatic view showing, in plan,the skin-hanger frame detached fromthe truck of the car.

In practice I prefer to dispose the troughs in pairs, the members ofeach pair to contain the same liquid tanning preparatiomand the numbersof pairs of the troughs corresponding to the number of the differentpreparations to be employed in the entire tanning operation. As shown Iprovide six pairs of the troughs, denoted respectively in Fig. 1 of thedrawings as A, A, B, B, O, O, D, D, E, E and F, F. These troughs arepreferably of rectangularshape and oblong; and they should be, and areby preference, each at least one hundred yards in length, about four tofive yards wide, and of any desired depth,

and are best built, or at least lined, with wood, brick or cement. Thetroughs are in parallel relation to each other in a suitable inclosure(not shown, but which maybe a mere 'shed).. Along opposite sides of eachtrough are railway rails r, r, those flanking the first trough A beingconnected by a bend r with those flanking the trough B, these beingconnected by an opposite bend r with the rails flanking the trough O,which last-named rails are connected by a bend r like the bend 1", withthe rails flanking the trough D, and these being, in turn, connected bya bend r like the bend T with the rails flanking the trough E, and thelast-named rails being, in turn, connected bya bend r like the bend Twith the rails '1" which flank the trough F. The

other troughs A, B, O, D, E and F have I between the members of eachpair of the troughs and thus flanked by rails 'r, and being connected bybends which follow the bends of, and extend between, the tracks R, R,with its continuation L extending between the tracks R R The plane ofthese tracks should be about that of the upper edges of the troughs,thus somewhat above, or below, or on a level with them. V G is'one ofthe cars, the width of the truck- 'portion of which is such as to adaptthe wheels at its opposite sides to coincide with the rails r'flankin ga trough, whereby the latter is straddled by the car; and the length ofeach car should be such as to cause a train of sevmore than half, thelength of a trough.

The truck-frame G is rectangular and carries a vertically adjustablehanger-frame G for the skins to be tanned.

. eral cars to extend only partway of, and not As one of variousmechanisms for rendering the hanger-frame vertically adjustable, Iprovide at each corner of the truck a vertical cylinder H containing apiston H, the piston-rod H working through the upper ends of thecylinders and carrying, on arms H depending from and rigidly connectedwith them, alre'cta ngular hanger-frame Gr supporting the transversebars p, between each pair of which extend obliquely. and horizontallythe rods 0 on which the skins to be tanned are hung.

For operating the pistons H, Iprovide a fluid-pump I communicatingcontrollably,

through a pipe 71. containing a valve n, with a fluid (preferablyliquid) reservoir I, the

pump and reservoir being supported at one side of the truck; andconnected with the discharge-end of the pump by an outlet-pipe mcontaining a valve on, is a pipe Z having valve controlled branches Zleading into the baseportions of the cylinders. A return-pipe 7.: to thereservoir leads from the pipe m and contains a valve 70'. Thus to raisethe platform, the valve 7r is closed and the valves 77., m, and those inthe branches Z are opened, whereupon, by actuating the pump, the fluidsupplied from the reservoir 1 is forced into the cylinders 11 and raisesthe pistons therein, thereby raising the hanger-frame G and to lower theframe, the valve 70 is opened and the valves m and n are closed, wherebythe weight of the loaded frame will force the pistons down and drive thefluid through the pipes into the reservoir, to be used over again.

. The valves in the pipes Z permit regulation of the fluid-pressure tothe different cylinders according to requirement, as for uniformity inoperating the pistons.

A train of the ears loaded with skins to be tanned and suspended inoblique relation to the sides of a trough on the hanger-rods o isintended to run on each trackR and B, one, at first, straddling thetrough A and the other the trough A, and a single locomotive (not shown,but of comparatively small variety, and driven by gas, steam, orelectricity) for both trains runs on the intermediate track L and isintended to be connected, as by a draftbeam, with the forward cars ofboth trains. With the skin-laden cars in position and theirhanger-frames let down to dip the suspended skins into the liquidcontents of the troughs A and A, the trains are driven, at intervals,back and forth to run the obliquely hung skins back and forth throughthe liquid, and periodically raised out of it for air-exposure, tilladequately treated with the first liquid when, on raising the skins byelevating the platforms G the trains are run to cause the cars tostraddle the pair of troughs 13,13, into the contents of which theobliquely hung skins, by lowering the platforms, are dipped, and workedback and forth therein; and so on throughout the series of troughs tillthe last pair has been used, when the skins are finished and may beremoved to be replaced by fresh ones, which are transported over thetracks R 11 and L to the first pair of troughs, whereupon the describedoperation is repeated. Of course, as will be understood, a single car,on each track, laden with the skins may be all that is used at one time,or only one car or train at a time may be caused to straddle a troughand to be run from one trough to another in succession (the track beingarranged accordingly). It is preferred, however, for the sake ofexpediting the tanning operation, but all the pairs of troughs in theseries shall be simultaneously in operation, each pair having two trainsof skin-laden cars working over them in the manner described, the skinson the respective trains being in different stages of progress of thetanning operation.

As will be seen from the foregoing description, by means of my improvedapparatus the operation of tanning may be practiced most expeditiouslyon a very large quantity of hides at once, with comparatively littleexpense for fuel for running the locomotives; and that a tanning-plantmay be equipped with it comparatively little expense, low wooden shedssupported by columns sufiicing for a housing, provided the roof be highenough for the trains.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a tanning apparatus, the combination of a series of troughs forcontaining the tan ning liquid, extending side by side in pairs,railway-tracks R and R sinuously connected by bends and having theirrails flanking the troughs, a locomotive-track L between the saidtracks, and skin-carrying cars G adapted to run on the said tracks R, Rand thereby straddle the troughs and provided with means for loweringthe skins into and raising them out of the troughs at will and adaptedto be operated in pairs at adjacent troughs, each pair by a singlelocomotive on the track L,

substantially'as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a tanning apparatus, the combination of a series of troughs forcontaining the tanning liquid, extending side by side in pairs,railway-tracks R and R sinuously connected by bends and having theirrails flanking the troughs and having continuations R and R renderingsaid tracks endless, a locomotivetrack L between the said tracks andhaving a continuation L rendering it endless, and skin-carrying cars Gadapted to run on said tracks R, R and their continuations and therebystraddle the troughs, and provided with means for lowering the skinsinto and raising them out of the troughs at will and adapted to beoperated in pairs at adjacent troughs, each pair by a single locomotiveon the said locom oti ve-track, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

JUSTIN OAILLET. In presence of- M. J. Fnosr, W. N. WILLIAMS.

